Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, will not meet in person with President Claudia Sheinbaum, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard reported.
The official explained that the conference scheduled for September 9 will take place via videoconference, because his counterpart was unable to travel from the United States to Mexico due to adverse weather conditions.
“The conversation between Secretary Howard Lutnick and President Sheinbaum will take place via Zoom because the Secretary of Commerce was unable to complete his flight yesterday,” Marcelo Ebrard wrote on his personal X account.
“I’ll update you, good morning. The conversation between Secretary Howard Lutnick and President Sheinbaum will take place via Zoom because the Secretary of Commerce was unable to complete the scheduled flight yesterday due to weather conditions.”
What will be discussed at the meeting between Lutnick and Sheinbaum?
The meeting between President Sheinbaum and the U.S. official will take place amid the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and growing tensions over Washington’s aggressive rhetoric.
On Friday, September 4, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Mexico has nothing to offer his country, other than “spicy tamales and tomatoes,” although he explained that he does not intend to interrupt the trade relationship because he gets along “very well” with Sheinbaum.
“If I stopped trading with them, we wouldn’t lose anything. It would only take one signature. We lose $195 billion a year with Mexico. They don’t have anything that we really need. Basically, they have nothing that we need,” he stated.
In response, the Mexican president said that although the relationship with the United States has “its difficulties,” she trusts that an “understanding” can be reached in the areas of security and trade.
The most recent round of trade negotiations with the U.S. was held in July in Mexico City, where representatives from both countries addressed issues including tariffs on the automotive, steel, and aluminum industries, as well as agriculture and other matters related to economic security.
The setting for the meeting between Sheinbaum and Lutnick also includes Donald Trump’s recent insinuations that Mexico is part of the territory of the United States.
The federal president responded, without mentioning her counterpart or referring to the image, that Mexico is a free and sovereign country.
Marcelo Ebrard committed to providing information regarding the meeting. President Sheinbaum confirmed that on September 10, the Economy Secretary will attend the morning press conference to provide details regarding the law aimed at promoting digital payments nationwide.
Source: elfinanciero
